Joaquín Almunia led an independent evaluation report of the EU’s financial rescue of Greece (2015-18) and the report was published this summer. We discussed the successes – stabilising the euro-zone and Greece’s public finances, as well as the consequences -falls in investment, a major rise in unemployment, and a massive brain-drain. What are the lessons for the euro-zone? For Greece’s recovery?

The report is available here.

Joaquín Almunia was the ESM high-level independent evaluator of the financial assistance to Greece in February 2019. He was appointed upon nomination by the Chairman of the ESM Board of Governors, Mário Centeno, in cooperation with the ESM Managing Director, Klaus Regling, and in consultation with the 19 ESM Members. Mr Almunia is a former Vice President of the European Commission. He is Chairman of the Board of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), and Honorary President of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. He has been a member of the Spanish Government, member of the Spanish Parliament; and leader of the Spanish Socialist Party.

Kari Korhonen works as Evaluation Manager and Senior Adviser to Secretary General at the European Stability Mechanism. He joined the ESM in 2013. During the last few years, he led dedicated ESM evaluation teams to support, first, Ms. Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell and, more recently, Mr Joaquín Almunia as the Independent Evaluators appointed by the Finance Ministers. Previously, Mr. Korhonen served as Senior Advisor to the Executive Director at the Nordic-Baltic constituency in the International Monetary Fund. He has also held managerial positions at the Bank of Finland in policy analysis and policy making, including in the area of crisis preparation and financial stability, and UNESCO treasury.

Iain Begg (@IainBeggLSE) is a Professorial Research Fellow at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science. From 2017 to 2020, he was academic Co-Director of the Dahrendorf Forum which focused on the strategic challenges facing Europe.

Gikas A. Hardouvelis is Professor of Finance and Economics at the University of Piraeus, the Senior Independent Director of the National Bank of Greece, and the First Vice President of the Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research. He has served as Minister of Finance of the Hellenic Republic from June 2014 to January 2015. In the past, he served as Research Adviser to the (central) Bank of Greece and to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He was also the Chief Economist of NBG and, later, of Eurobank as well as the President of the Scientific Council of the Hellenic Bank Association. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Athens Derivatives Exchange and helped its creation. He also served twice as the Director of the Prime Minister’s Economic Office of the Hellenic Republic under two different prime ministers. Professor Hardouvelis has a Ph.D. in Economics from U. C. Berkeley, and M. Sc. & B. A. degrees in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University.  His academic work is in the areas of Macroeconomics, Monetary Policy and Finance and has been published in the AER, QJE, J. Finance, RFS, JME, REStat, and other prestigious top-ranking academic journals.

Elena Panaritis (@Elena_Panaritis) is an economist, policy innovator, and social entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Founder of Thought4Action, action tank. Elena Panaritis is former World Bank economist and honorary member of Hellenic Parliament in 2009-12. She works with government leaders and has spearheaded innovative growth reforms that have improved the lives of millions of people moving them from poverty to middle class. She is awarder with innovation recognition and international best practice. She has advised three Prime Ministers during the Greek Economic Crisis, and served as the Special Envoy for Negotiating the Greek sovereign debt and lending program. She is an author, professor of economic development and international policy. She has degrees from Johns Hopkins SAIS and INSEAD among others.

Kevin Featherstone is Eleftherios Venizelos Professor in Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor in European Politics in the European Institute at LSE, where he is also Director of the Hellenic Observatory. He has held visiting positions at the University of Minnesota; New York University; Harvard University; and, the European University Institute (Firenze). Before LSE, he held academic posts at the Universities of Stirling and Bradford. He was the first foreign member of the National Council for Research and Technology (ESET) in Greece, serving from 2010-2013. In 2013 he was made ‘Commander: Order of the Phoenix’ by the President of the Hellenic Republic. In 2014, the European Parliament selected one of his books (co-authored with Kenneth Dyson) as one of its ‘100 Books on Europe to Remember’. He has contributed regularly to international media on European and Greek politics.

The twitter Hashtag for this event is: #LSEGreece

Slides

A copy of Joaquín Almunia's slide presentation is available for download here.

A copy of Kari Korhonen's slide presentation is available for download here.

Gikas A. Hardouvelis' slide presentation is available for download here.

Podcast

Listen to the podcast here.

Video

Watch the video here.

The Hellenic Observatory (@HO_LSE) is internationally recognised as one of the premier research centres on contemporary Greece and Cyprus. It engages in a range of activities, including developing and supporting academic and policy-related research; organisation of conferences, seminars and workshops; academic exchange through visiting fellowships and internships; as well as teaching at the graduate level through LSE's European Institute.